Dr. McKechnie is the Interim Pastor at Sardis Presbyterian Church. Dave reveals, "I wake up enthusiastic about each new day-anticipating new things happening in my life, in the lives of my family, and in the lives of other members of the Body of Christ." Join us at Sardis Presbyterian Church for worship at 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. each Sunday.

Friday, October 31, 2014

"My How Time Flies"

Every fall, a few folks show up an hour
early for worship because they forgot to set their clocks back one hour when
daylight savings time ended.Yesterday
was no exception as we officially reached that turning point.

For me, there is always some inner body
confusion when we start changing clocks and rearranging time.I don’t know about you, but it takes me a
week to adjust to the time change.It is
only an hour difference, but it still plays havoc with my waking up and going
to bed routine.

I sometimes chuckle that we so casually
turn the clock back in the fall and say we have gained an hour.We know we haven’t gained or lost anything, but
it is nice to think we have some control over time.

The Bible has a lot to say about time. Many like the quote from Ecclesiastes 3, “For
everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.” The
passage was immortalized for those of us of a certain age in the pop tune
written by Pete Seeger and covered in the 1960’s by an American Rock group from
Los Angeles knows as The Byrds (click on the video).

One
of my favorite Bible passages about time is from Psalm 90:12, “So teach us to
number our days, so we might apply our hearts unto wisdom.”I
remember hearing former Davidson College President, Thomas W. Ross, say that
for years he disciplined himself to actually number and count each day and
record what he learned on that day. I
not so disciplined.Many of my days are
like a blur and some come and go without any reflection.I’d like to be more like the psalmist and
Thomas Ross and take time to reflect on my life at the end of day.I think they are on to something, and it’s
called wisdom.

So we have two lessons about time from the
Bible.One is that everything has its
proper time and the other is that our time is limited.What do those lessons mean for us today?I think the meaning is that time as a gift
from God is only partly ours.If we see
God’s gift as having proper uses, we need to use it in ways that are to His
glory.And, if we see God’s gift as
having limits, we need not to let it slip through our fingers.

What about you and that “extra” hour from
the daylight savings time change?Can
you use it in a way that demonstrates your faith and God’s love?Can you keep it from going to waste?What about our ordinary time every day?What ideas do you have to use God’s gift of
time appropriately?